Bandwidth Part (BWP) Configuration For Subband Access In New Radio-Unlicensed (NR-U)

ABSTRACT

Wireless communications systems and methods related to communicating in a frequency band based on bandwidth parts are provided. A first wireless communication device communicates with a second wireless communication device, a first configuration indicating a plurality of bandwidth parts in a frequency band, the plurality of bandwidth parts based on an expected channel access pattern associated with a listen-before-talk (LBT) in the frequency band. The first wireless communication device communicates, with the second wireless communication device, a first communication signal in a first bandwidth part of the plurality of bandwidth parts based on an LBT result.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 16/287,893 filed Feb. 27, 2019, which claims priority to andthe benefit of India Patent Application No. 201841007756, filed Mar. 1,2018, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties asif fully set forth below and for all applicable purposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates to wireless communication systems, and moreparticularly to configuring bandwidth parts (BWPs) in a frequencyspectrum shared by multiple network operating entities and communicatingin the frequency spectrum based on the configured BWPs.

INTRODUCTION

Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide varioustypes of communication content such as voice, video, packet data,messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable ofsupporting communication with multiple users by sharing the availablesystem resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). A wirelessmultiple-access communications system may include a number of basestations (BSs), each simultaneously supporting communications formultiple communication devices, which may be otherwise known as userequipment (UE).

To meet the growing demands for expanded mobile broadband connectivity,wireless communication technologies are advancing from the LTEtechnology to a next generation new radio (NR) technology. For example,NR may operate over a wider bandwidth (BW) at higher frequencies thanLTE. In addition, NR introduces the concept of BWPs, where a BS maydynamically configure a UE to communicate over a portion of a networksystem BW instead of over the entire network system BW. The use of BWPscan provide several benefits, such as reducing UE BW capabilityrequirements, reducing power consumptions at UEs, reducing signalingoverheads, and/or allowing for load balancing within a component carrier(CC), despite the wider network system BW. Further, NR may operateacross different spectrum types, from licensed spectrum to unlicensedand shared spectrum. Spectrum sharing enables operators toopportunistically aggregate spectrums to dynamically support high-BWservices. Spectrum sharing can extend the benefit of NR technologies tooperating entities that may not have access to a licensed spectrum.

One approach to avoiding collisions when communicating in a sharedspectrum or an unlicensed spectrum is to use a listen-before-talk (LBT)procedure to ensure that the shared channel is clear before transmittinga signal in the shared channel. A transmitting node may listen to one ormore channels (e.g., frequency subbands) within the frequency spectrum.Depending on the LBT result, the transmitting node may access one ormore channels. In some instances, the transmitting node may listen todifferent channels depending on whether the LBT is for an uplink (UL)channel access or for a downlink (DL) channel access. The differentchannel access BWs may require different guard bands for interferenceprotection against transmissions in adjacent channels, for example, bynodes of a different network operating entity. NR over a licensedspectrum may have such channel access requirements. As such, the NR BWPconfiguration model may not be directly applied for use in a shared orunlicensed spectrum.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF SOME EXAMPLES

The following summarizes some aspects of the present disclosure toprovide a basic understanding of the discussed technology. This summaryis not an extensive overview of all contemplated features of thedisclosure, and is intended neither to identify key or critical elementsof all aspects of the disclosure nor to delineate the scope of any orall aspects of the disclosure. Its sole purpose is to present someconcepts of one or more aspects of the disclosure in summary form as aprelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

For example, in an aspect of the disclosure, a method of wirelesscommunication including communicating, by a first wireless communicationdevice with a second wireless communication device, a firstconfiguration indicating a plurality of bandwidth parts in a frequencyband, the plurality of bandwidth parts based on an expected channelaccess pattern associated with a listen-before-talk (LBT) in thefrequency band; and communicating, by the first wireless communicationdevice with the second wireless communication device, a firstcommunication signal in a first bandwidth part of the plurality ofbandwidth parts based on an LBT result.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a method of wirelesscommunication includes communicating, by a first wireless communicationdevice with a second wireless communication device, a firstconfiguration indicating a plurality of bandwidth parts in a frequencyband, the frequency band including at least a first set of resourceblocks interlaced with a second set of resource blocks; andcommunicating, by the first wireless communication device with thesecond wireless communication device, a first communication signal usingat least a portion of the first set of resource blocks within a firstbandwidth part of the plurality of bandwidth parts based on a firstlisten-before-talk (LBT) result.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus including atransceiver configured to communicate, with a second wirelesscommunication device, a first configuration indicating a plurality ofbandwidth parts in a frequency band, the plurality of bandwidth partsbased on an expected channel access pattern associated with alisten-before-talk (LBT) in the frequency band; and communicate, withthe second wireless communication device, a first communication signalin a first bandwidth part of the plurality of bandwidth parts based onan LBT result.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus including atransceiver configured to communicate, with a first wirelesscommunication device, a first configuration indicating a plurality ofbandwidth parts in a frequency band, the frequency band including atleast a first set of resource blocks interlaced with a second set ofresource blocks; and communicate, with the first wireless communicationdevice, a first communication signal using at least a portion of thefirst set of resource blocks within a first bandwidth part of theplurality of bandwidth parts based on a first listen-before-talk (LBT)result.

Other aspects, features, and embodiments of the present invention willbecome apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, upon reviewingthe following description of specific, exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures. Whilefeatures of the present invention may be discussed relative to certainembodiments and figures below, all embodiments of the present inventioncan include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein.In other words, while one or more embodiments may be discussed as havingcertain advantageous features, one or more of such features may also beused in accordance with the various embodiments of the inventiondiscussed herein. In similar fashion, while exemplary embodiments may bediscussed below as device, system, or method embodiments it should beunderstood that such exemplary embodiments can be implemented in variousdevices, systems, and methods.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless communication network according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates a bandwidth part (BWP) configuration according tosome embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates a guard band configuration according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary user equipment (UE) accordingto embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an exemplary base station (BS) according toembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates a BWP configuration scheme according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates a BWP configuration scheme according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates a BWP configuration scheme according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 illustrates a BWP configuration scheme with frequency-hoppingaccording to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 illustrates a BWP configuration scheme with interlaced-basedallocations according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 illustrates a reference resource block configuration schemeaccording to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 illustrates a BWP configuration scheme with reference resourceblock consideration according to some embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 13 is a signaling diagram of a BWP-based communication methodaccording to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram of a BWP-based communication method accordingto embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below, in connection with theappended drawings, is intended as a description of variousconfigurations and is not intended to represent the only configurationsin which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The detaileddescription includes specific details for the purpose of providing athorough understanding of the various concepts. However, it will beapparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts may bepracticed without these specific details. In some instances, well-knownstructures and components are shown in block diagram form in order toavoid obscuring such concepts.

This disclosure relates generally to providing or participating inauthorized shared access between two or more wireless communicationssystems, also referred to as wireless communications networks. Invarious embodiments, the techniques and apparatus may be used forwireless communication networks such as code division multiple access(CDMA) networks, time division multiple access (TDMA) networks,frequency division multiple access (FDMA) networks, orthogonal FDMA(OFDMA) networks, single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks, LTE networks,GSM networks, 5^(th) Generation (5G) or new radio (NR) networks, as wellas other communications networks. As described herein, the terms“networks” and “systems” may be used interchangeably.

An OFDMA network may implement a radio technology such as evolved UTRA(E-UTRA), IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, flash-OFDM and thelike. UTRA, E-UTRA, and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)are part of universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS). Inparticular, long term evolution (LTE) is a release of UMTS that usesE-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, GSM, UMTS and LTE are described in documentsprovided from an organization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project”(3GPP), and cdma2000 is described in documents from an organizationnamed “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2” (3GPP2). These variousradio technologies and standards are known or are being developed. Forexample, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is acollaboration between groups of telecommunications associations thataims to define a globally applicable third generation (3G) mobile phonespecification. 3GPP long term evolution (LTE) is a 3GPP project whichwas aimed at improving the universal mobile telecommunications system(UMTS) mobile phone standard. The 3GPP may define specifications for thenext generation of mobile networks, mobile systems, and mobile devices.The present disclosure is concerned with the evolution of wirelesstechnologies from LTE, 4G, 5G, NR, and beyond with shared access towireless spectrum between networks using a collection of new anddifferent radio access technologies or radio air interfaces.

In particular, 5G networks contemplate diverse deployments, diversespectrum, and diverse services and devices that may be implemented usingan OFDM-based unified, air interface. In order to achieve these goals,further enhancements to LTE and LTE-A are considered in addition todevelopment of the new radio technology for 5G NR networks. The 5G NRwill be capable of scaling to provide coverage (1) to a massive Internetof things (IoTs) with a ULtra-high density (e.g., ˜1M nodes/km²),ultra-low complexity (e.g., ˜10s of bits/sec), ultra-low energy (e.g.,˜10+years of battery life), and deep coverage with the capability toreach challenging locations; (2) including mission-critical control withstrong security to safeguard sensitive personal, financial, orclassified information, ultra-high reliability (e.g., ˜99.9999%reliability), ultra-low latency (e.g., ˜ 1 ms), and users with wideranges of mobility or lack thereof; and (3) with enhanced mobilebroadband including extreme high capacity (e.g., ˜ 10 Tbps/km²), extremedata rates (e.g., multi-Gbps rate, 100+Mbps user experienced rates), anddeep awareness with advanced discovery and optimizations.

The 5G NR may be implemented to use optimized OFDM-based waveforms withscalable numerology and transmission time interval (TTI); having acommon, flexible framework to efficiently multiplex services andfeatures with a dynamic, low-latency time division duplex(TDD)/frequency division duplex (FDD) design; and with advanced wirelesstechnologies, such as massive multiple input, multiple output (MIMO),robust millimeter wave (mmWave) transmissions, advanced channel coding,and device-centric mobility. Scalability of the numerology in 5G NR,with scaling of subcarrier spacing, may efficiently address operatingdiverse services across diverse spectrum and diverse deployments. Forexample, in various outdoor and macro coverage deployments of less than3 GHz FDD/TDD implementations, subcarrier spacing may occur with 15 kHz,for example over 1, 5, 10, 20 MHz, and the like BW. For other variousoutdoor and small cell coverage deployments of TDD greater than 3 GHz,subcarrier spacing may occur with 30 kHz over 80/100 MHz BW. For othervarious indoor wideband implementations, using a TDD over the unlicensedportion of the 5 GHz band, the subcarrier spacing may occur with 60 kHzover a 160 MHz BW. Finally, for various deployments transmitting withmmWave components at a TDD of 28 GHz, subcarrier spacing may occur with120 kHz over a 500 MHz BW.

The scalable numerology of the 5G NR facilitates scalable TTI fordiverse latency and quality of service (QoS) requirements. For example,shorter TTI may be used for low latency and high reliability, whilelonger TTI may be used for higher spectral efficiency. The efficientmultiplexing of long and short TTIs to allow transmissions to start onsymbol boundaries. 5G NR also contemplates a self-contained integratedsubframe design with uplink/downlink scheduling information, data, andacknowledgement in the same subframe. The self-contained integratedsubframe supports communications in unlicensed or contention-basedshared spectrum, adaptive uplink/downlink that may be flexiblyconfigured on a per-cell basis to dynamically switch between uplink anddownlink to meet the current traffic needs.

Various other aspects and features of the disclosure are furtherdescribed below. It should be apparent that the teachings herein may beembodied in a wide variety of forms and that any specific structure,function, or both being disclosed herein is merely representative andnot limiting. Based on the teachings herein one of an ordinary level ofskill in the art should appreciate that an aspect disclosed herein maybe implemented independently of any other aspects and that two or moreof these aspects may be combined in various ways. For example, anapparatus may be implemented or a method may be practiced using anynumber of the aspects set forth herein. In addition, such an apparatusmay be implemented or such a method may be practiced using otherstructure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition toor other than one or more of the aspects set forth herein. For example,a method may be implemented as part of a system, device, apparatus,and/or as instructions stored on a computer readable medium forexecution on a processor or computer. Furthermore, an aspect maycomprise at least one element of a claim.

The present application describes mechanisms for configuring bandwidthparts (BWPs) in a frequency spectrum shared by multiple networkoperating entities and communicating in the frequency spectrum based onthe configured BWPs. For example, a BS may partition a shared frequencyband or an unlicensed frequency band into a plurality of channels.Channel access in the frequency band may be in units of channels. The BSmay configure a plurality of BWPs including one or more channels basedon an expected channel access pattern associated with alisten-before-talk (LBT) procedure in the frequency band. For example, aBS or a UE may perform an LBT in the frequency band and may access oneor more of the channels based on the result of the LBT.

In an embodiment, the BS may provide a flexible BWP configurationincluding any combination of channels in the frequency band. Forexample, a BWP may include one or more contiguous channels or one ormore non-contiguous channels. The BS may transmit a configurationindicating the BWPs. The BS may configure a UE with one active BWP at agiven time. The BS may schedule communications with the UE within theactive BWP.

In an embodiment, the BS may select a primary channel from among thechannels in the frequency band. Each BWP may include at least theprimary channel and may additionally include one or more of the otherchannels. The BS or the UE may perform a listen-before-talk (LBT)procedure in the primary channel and may determine whether to transmitin the active BWP based on the whether the primary channel is clear orbusy.

In an embodiment, the BS may allocate resources in units of frequencyinterlace. For example, the BS may partition the frequency band intoresource blocks, which may be referred to as physical resource blocks(PRBs). Each channel may include a group of contiguous resource blocks.The BS may configure a plurality of frequency interlaces in thefrequency band. Each frequency interlace may include a set of resourceblocks spaced apart from each other and frequency interlacing with a setof resource blocks of another frequency interlace. The BS may configurethe frequency interlaces such that frequency interlaces for differentBWPs are consistent and compatible with each other. The BS may configurethe PRBs, BWPs, and frequency interlaces with respect to a commonstarting frequency (e.g., a common reference PRB). The BS may allocate acertain frequency interlace to a UE for communication. The BS maycommunicate with the UE using resource blocks of the allocated frequencyinterlace within the active BWP of the UE. When the communication is inan unlicensed frequency band with a power spectral density (PSD)limitation, the interlaced waveform-based transmission can allow formaximization of transmit power utilization.

In an embodiment, the BS may select a common reference resource block ora starting frequency location for the plurality of resource blocks. Theselection may be dependent on guard band requirements for each BWPand/or center frequencies of the channels. The selection may maximize afunction associated with a number of usable resource blocks in each BWP.A usable resource block refers to a resource block that does not includeany portion of a guard band.

In some embodiments, the BS may configure a BWP for uplink (UL)independent of a BWP for downlink (DL). For example, the BS may allowthe UL BWP and the DL BWP to have the same center frequency or differentcenter frequencies. In addition, the BW may allow the UL BWP and the DLBWP to have the same BW or different BWs. While the disclosedembodiments are described in the context of NR-unlicensed (NR-U), thedisclosed embodiments are suitable for use with any wirelesscommunication networks that operate over a shared frequency band or anunlicensed frequency band.

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless communication network 100 according tosome embodiments of the present disclosure. The network 100 may be a 5Gnetwork. The network 100 includes a number of base stations (BSs) 105and other network entities. ABS 105 may be a station that communicateswith UEs 115 and may also be referred to as an evolved node B (eNB), anext generation eNB (gNB), an access point, and the like. Each BS 105may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. In3GPP, the term “cell” can refer to this particular geographic coveragearea of a BS 105 and/or a BS subsystem serving the coverage area,depending on the context in which the term is used.

ABS 105 may provide communication coverage for a macro cell or a smallcell, such as a pico cell or a femto cell, and/or other types of cell. Amacro cell generally covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g.,several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by UEswith service subscriptions with the network provider. A small cell, suchas a pico cell, would generally cover a relatively smaller geographicarea and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptionswith the network provider. A small cell, such as a femto cell, wouldalso generally cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home)and, in addition to unrestricted access, may also provide restrictedaccess by UEs having an association with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in aclosed subscriber group (CSG), UEs for users in the home, and the like).ABS for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro BS. ABS for a smallcell may be referred to as a small cell BS, a pico BS, a femto BS or ahome BS. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the BSs 105 d and 105 e may beregular macro BSs, while the BSs 105 a-105 c may be macro BSs enabledwith one of 3 dimension (3D), full dimension (FD), or massive MIMO. TheBSs 105 a-105 c may take advantage of their higher dimension MIMOcapabilities to exploit 3D beamforming in both elevation and azimuthbeamforming to increase coverage and capacity. The BS 105 f may be asmall cell BS which may be a home node or portable access point. A BS105 may support one or multiple (e.g., two, three, four, and the like)cells.

The network 100 may support synchronous or asynchronous operation. Forsynchronous operation, the BSs may have similar frame timing, andtransmissions from different BSs may be approximately aligned in time.For asynchronous operation, the BSs may have different frame timing, andtransmissions from different BSs may not be aligned in time.

The UEs 115 are dispersed throughout the wireless network 100, and eachUE 115 may be stationary or mobile. A UE 115 may also be referred to asa terminal, a mobile station, a subscriber unit, a station, or the like.A UE 115 may be a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), awireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, atablet computer, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless localloop (WLL) station, or the like. In one aspect, a UE 115 may be a devicethat includes a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC). In anotheraspect, a UE may be a device that does not include a UICC. In someaspects, the UEs 115 that do not include UICCs may also be referred toas internet of everything (IoE) devices. The UEs 115 a-115 d areexamples of mobile smart phone-type devices accessing network 100 A UE115 may also be a machine specifically configured for connectedcommunication, including machine type communication (MTC), enhanced MTC(eMTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) and the like. The UEs 115 e-115 k areexamples of various machines configured for communication that accessthe network 100. A UE 115 may be able to communicate with any type ofthe BSs, whether macro BS, small cell, or the like. In FIG. 1, alightning bolt (e.g., communication links) indicates wirelesstransmissions between a UE 115 and a serving BS 105, which is a BSdesignated to serve the UE 115 on the downlink and/or uplink, or desiredtransmission between BSs, and backhaul transmissions between BSs.

In operation, the BSs 105 a-105 c may serve the UEs 115 a and 115 busing 3D beamforming and coordinated spatial techniques, such ascoordinated multipoint (CoMP) or multi-connectivity. The macro BS 105 dmay perform backhaul communications with the BSs 105 a-105 c, as well assmall cell, the BS 105 f. The macro BS 105 d may also transmitsmulticast services which are subscribed to and received by the UEs 115 cand 115 d. Such multicast services may include mobile television orstream video, or may include other services for providing communityinformation, such as weather emergencies or alerts, such as Amber alertsor gray alerts.

The network 100 may also support mission critical communications withultra-reliable and redundant links for mission critical devices, such asthe UE 115 e, which may be a drone. Redundant communication links withthe UE 115 e may include links from the macro BSs 105 d and 105 e, aswell as links from the small cell BS 105 f. Other machine type devices,such as the UE 115 f (e.g., a thermometer), the UE 115 g (e.g., smartmeter), and UE 115 h (e.g., wearable device) may communicate through thenetwork 100 either directly with BSs, such as the small cell BS 105 f,and the macro BS 105 e, or in multi-hop configurations by communicatingwith another user device which relays its information to the network,such as the UE 115 f communicating temperature measurement informationto the smart meter, the UE 115 g, which is then reported to the networkthrough the small cell BS 105 f The network 100 may also provideadditional network efficiency through dynamic, low-latency TDD/FDDcommunications, such as in a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V)

In some implementations, the network 100 utilizes OFDM-based waveformsfor communications. An OFDM-based system may partition the system BWinto multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, which are also commonlyreferred to as subcarriers, tones, bins, or the like. Each subcarriermay be modulated with data. In some instances, the subcarrier spacingbetween adjacent subcarriers may be fixed, and the total number ofsubcarriers (K) may be dependent on the system BW. The system BW mayalso be partitioned into subbands. In other instances, the subcarrierspacing and/or the duration of TTIs may be scalable.

In an embodiment, the BSs 105 can assign or schedule transmissionresources (e.g., in the form of time-frequency resource blocks (RB)) fordownlink (DL) and uplink (UL) transmissions in the network 100. DLrefers to the transmission direction from a BS 105 to a UE 115, whereasUL refers to the transmission direction from a UE 115 to a BS 105. Thecommunication can be in the form of radio frames. A radio frame may bedivided into a plurality of subframes, for example, about 10. Eachsubframe can be divided into slots, for example, about 2. Each slot maybe further divided into mini-slots. In a frequency-division duplexing(FDD) mode, simultaneous UL and DL transmissions may occur in differentfrequency bands. For example, each subframe includes a UL subframe in aUL frequency band and a DL subframe in a DL frequency band. In atime-division duplexing (TDD) mode, UL and DL transmissions occur atdifferent time periods using the same frequency band. For example, asubset of the subframes (e.g., DL subframes) in a radio frame may beused for DL transmissions and another subset of the subframes (e.g., ULsubframes) in the radio frame may be used for UL transmissions.

The DL subframes and the UL subframes can be further divided intoseveral regions. For example, each DL or UL subframe may havepre-defined regions for transmissions of reference signals, controlinformation, and data. Reference signals are predetermined signals thatfacilitate the communications between the BSs 105 and the UEs 115. Forexample, a reference signal can have a particular pilot pattern orstructure, where pilot tones may span across an operational BW orfrequency band, each positioned at a pre-defined time and a pre-definedfrequency. For example, a BS 105 may transmit cell specific referencesignals (CRSs) and/or channel state information— reference signals(CSI-RSs) to enable a UE 115 to estimate a DL channel. Similarly, a UE115 may transmit sounding reference signals (SRSs) to enable a BS 105 toestimate a UL channel. Control information may include resourceassignments and protocol controls. Data may include protocol data and/oroperational data. In some embodiments, the BSs 105 and the UEs 115 maycommunicate using self-contained subframes. A self-contained subframemay include a portion for DL communication and a portion for ULcommunication. A self-contained subframe can be DL-centric orUL-centric. A DL-centric subframe may include a longer duration for DLcommunication tha UL communication. A UL-centric subframe may include alonger duration for UL communication tha UL communication.

In an embodiment, the network 100 may be an NR network deployed over alicensed spectrum. The BSs 105 can transmit synchronization signals(e.g., including a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and a secondarysynchronization signal (SSS)) in the network 100 to facilitatesynchronization. The BSs 105 can broadcast system information associatedwith the network 100 (e.g., including a master information block (MIB),remaining minimum system information (RMSI), and other systeminformation (OSI)) to facilitate initial network access. In someinstances, the BSs 105 may broadcast the PSS, the SSS, the MIB, theRMSI, and/or the OSI in the form of synchronization signal blocks(SSBs).

In an embodiment, a UE 115 attempting to access the network 100 mayperform an initial cell search by detecting a PSS from a BS 105. The PSSmay enable synchronization of period timing and may indicate a physicallayer identity value. The UE 115 may then receive a SSS. The SSS mayenable radio frame synchronization, and may provide a cell identityvalue, which may be combined with the physical layer identity value toidentify the cell. The SSS may also enable detection of a duplexing modeand a cyclic prefix length. Some systems, such as TDD systems, maytransmit an SSS but not a PSS. Both the PSS and the SSS may be locatedin a central portion of a carrier, respectively.

After receiving the PSS and SSS, the UE 115 may receive a MIB, which maybe transmitted in the physical broadcast channel (PBCH). The MIB mayinclude system information for initial network access and schedulinginformation for RMSI and/or OSI. After decoding the MIB, the UE 115 mayreceive RMSI and/or OSI. The RMSI and/or OSI may include radio resourceconfiguration (RRC) configuration information related to random accesschannel (RACH) procedures, paging, physical uplink control channel(PUCCH), physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), power control, SRS, andcell barring. After obtaining the MIB, the RMSI and/or the OSI, the UE115 can perform a random access procedure to establish a connection withthe BS 105. After establishing a connection, the UE 115 and the BS 105can enter a normal operation stage, where operational data may beexchanged.

In an embodiment, the network 100 may operate over a system BW or acomponent carrier (CC) BW. The network 100 may partition the system BWinto multiple BWPs (e.g., portions). A BS 105 may dynamically assign aUE 115 to operate over a certain BWP (e.g., a certain portion of thesystem BW). The assigned BWP may be referred to as the active BWP. TheUE 115 may monitor the active BWP for signaling information from the BS105. The BS 105 may schedule the UE 115 for UL or DL communications inthe active BWP. In some embodiments, a BS 105 may assign a pair of BWPswithin the CC to a UE 115 for UL and DL communications. For example, theBWP pair may include one BWP for UL communications and one BWP for DLcommunications.

In an embodiment, the network 100 may operate over a shared frequencyband or an unlicensed frequency band, for example, at about 3.5gigahertz (GHz), sub-6 GHz or higher frequencies. For example, the BSs105 and the UEs 115 may be operated by multiple network operatingentities sharing resources in the shared communication medium and mayemploy a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure to reserve transmissionopportunities (TXOPs) in the share medium for communications. Thenetwork 100 may partition the frequency band into multiple channels, forexample, each occupying about 20 megahertz (MHz). A BS 105 may configurea plurality of BWPs, each including one or more of the channels forcommunications with UEs 115 in the network 100. The BS 105 may configureone of the BWPs as an active BWP for a UE 115. For example, the BS 105or the UE 115 may perform an LBT on multiple channels in the frequencyband prior to transmitting in the frequency band and may transmit in oneor more channels based on the LBT result. The BS 105 may assign anactive BWP to the UE 115 based on the one or more channels with channelaccess.

In some embodiments, a BS 105 may assign one of the channels as aprimary channel for LBT purpose and may configure BWPs based on theprimary channel. In some embodiments, a BS 105 may configure frequencyinterlaces in the frequency band and may schedule resources in units offrequency interlaces. In some embodiments, a BS 105 may determine guardbands for different BWPs and may configure PRBs in the frequency bandfor channel-mapping or BWP-mapping by considering the number of usablePRBs for allocations in each BWP. Mechanisms for configuring BWPs,frequency interlaces, PRBs, and/or guard bands for communications in ashared frequency band or unlicensed frequency bands are described ingreater detail herein.

FIG. 2 illustrates a BWP configuration 200 according to some embodimentsof the present disclosure. The configuration 200 may be employed by BSssuch as the BSs 105 and UEs such as the UEs 115 in a network such as thenetwork 100. In FIG. 2, the x-axis represents frequency in some constantunits. The configuration 200 shows a frequency band 210 including aplurality of PRBs 202. The frequency band 210 may be located at anysuitable frequencies, for example, at about 3.5 GHz, sub-6 GHz, or inthe mmWave bands. The frequency band 210 may correspond to a system BWor component carrier BW in a network. In an embodiment, the frequencyband 210 may be a licensed band used by an NR network. Each PRB 202 mayinclude a plurality subcarriers or frequency tones. In some embodiments,each PRB 202 may include about twelve subcarriers. The frequency band210 may be partitioned into a plurality of BWPs 220. The plurality ofBWPs 220 may or may not be overlapping. For simplicity of illustrationand discussion, FIG. 2 illustrates two BWPs 220 a and 220 b, though itwill be recognized that embodiments of the present disclosure may scaleto include any suitable number of BWPs 220 (e.g., about 3, 4, or more).Each BWP 220 may include a group of contiguous PRBs 202 and may beassociated with a particular numerology (e.g., subcarrier spacing,cyclic prefix (CP) type) for communications in the BWP 220.

In some embodiment, a serving cell may include a maximum of about fourUL BWPs 220 and about four DL BWPs 220. In some embodiments, a servingcell may include a maximum of about four pairs of UL/DL BWPs 220 forpaired spectrum (e.g., for TDD operations). In other words, a DL BWP 220and a UL BWP 220 are jointly configured to form a pair of UL/DL BWPs220. In an embodiment, a DL/UL BWP pair may include the same centerfrequency, but may include different UL and DL BWs.

At any given time, one DL BWP 220 and/or one UL BWP 220 may be active.The UE are not required to monitor or receive a physical downlink sharedchannel (PDSCH) signal (e.g., carrying DL data), a physical downlinkcontrol channel (PDCCH) signal (e.g., carrying DL control information,UL scheduling grants, and/or DL scheduling grants), a channel stateinformation-reference signal (CSI-RS), or a tracking reference signal(TRS) outside an active DL BWP 220. The UE may not transmit a PUSCHsignal or a PUCCH signal outside an active UL BWP 220.

In an embodiment, the configuration 200 may use a common indexing schemefor the PRBs 202. For example, the PRBs 202 may be configured based on acommon reference PRB 204, which may be referred to as PRBO. Each BWP 220may include a group of contiguous PRBs 202 with respect to the commonreference PRB 204. As shown, the PRBs 202 are indexed from 0 to N−1starting from the common reference PRB 204, where N is a positiveinteger. The value N may be dependent on the BW of the frequency band210 and the SCS or BW of the PRBs 202. As an example, one UE may beconfigured with a BWP 220 a from PRB 202 indexed 40 to PRB 202 indexed60, while another UE may be configured with a BWP 220 b from PRB 202indexed 20 to PRB 202 indexed 100.

In an embodiment, a UE may receive RRC signaling from a BS regardinginformation associated with the common reference PRB 204 (e.g., PRBO).For example, the RRC signaling may indicate an offset between areference location and a lowest-frequency subcarrier of the commonreference PRB 204. For example, the reference location may be definedbased on the lowest-frequency subcarrier in which a cell-defining SSB istransmitted or indicated in RMSI, cell configurations, UL configurationsdepending on whether the set of PRBs 202 is in a primary cell or asecondary cell or whether the set of PRBs 202 is for UL access or DLaccess. The common reference PRB 204 can be defined based on a 15 kHzSCS in a certain frequency range or a 30 kHz SCS in another frequencyrange. The offset may be indicated in units of PRBs 202.

FIG. 3 illustrates a guard band configuration 300 according to someembodiments of the present disclosure. The configuration 300 may beemployed by BSs such as the BSs 105 and UEs such as the UEs 115 in anetwork such as the network 100. In FIG. 3, the x-axis representsfrequency in some constant units. The configuration 300 illustratesguard band configurations for channel access scenarios 310, 320, and 330with different BWs 302, 304, and 306, respectively. Guard bands areincluded at edges of a channel BW to mitigate interference fromsimultaneous transmissions in adjacent channels. The frequency band 210may have a channel BW corresponding to the BW 302, 304, or 306.

In the scenario 310, a channel access may be over a BW 302 of about 20MHz, for example, including about 256 resource elements (REs) (e.g.,subcarriers with SCS of about 78.125 kHz). The configuration 300 mayconfigure a guard band 312 _(L) including about six REs at the left edgeof the BW 302 and a guard band 312 _(R) including about five REs at theright edge of the BW 302. A communication signal 314 may be transmittedin a usable portion of the BW 302 excluding the guard bands 312 as shownby the pattern-filled box.

In the scenario 320, a channel access may be over a BW 304 of about 40MHz, for example, including about 512 REs. The configuration 300 mayconfigure a guard band 322 _(L) including about twelve REs at the leftedge of the BW 304 and a guard band 322 _(R) including about eleven REsat the right edge of the BW 304. A communication signal 324 may betransmitted in a usable portion of the BW 304 excluding the guard bands322 as shown by the pattern-filled box.

In the scenario 330, a channel access may be over a BW 306 of about 80MHz, for example, including about 1024 REs. The configuration 300 mayconfigure a guard band 332L including about twelve REs at the left edgeof the BW 304 and a guard band 332R including about eleven REs at theright edge of the BW 306. A communication signal 334 may be transmittedin a usable portion of the BW 306 excluding the guard bands 332 as shownby the pattern-filled box.

As can be seen, different channel access BWs may require different guardband BWs. In addition, the left guard band and the right guard band fora channel may be configured with different BWs. As describe above,channel accesses in a shared frequency band or an unlicensed frequencyband may have different BWs depending on LBT results. Thus, BWPs (e.g.,the BWPs 220) with different BWs may require different guard band BWs.Mechanisms for configuring guard bands with BWPs in a shared frequencyband or an unlicensed frequency band are described in greater detailherein.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary UE 400 according toembodiments of the present disclosure. The UE 400 may be a UE 115 asdiscussed above. As shown, the UE 400 may include a processor 402, amemory 404, a BWP-based communication module 408, a transceiver 410including a modem subsystem 412 and a radio frequency (RF) unit 414, andone or more antennas 416. These elements may be in direct or indirectcommunication with each other, for example via one or more buses.

The processor 402 may include a central processing unit (CPU), a digitalsignal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit(ASIC), a controller, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) device,another hardware device, a firmware device, or any combination thereofconfigured to perform the operations described herein. The processor 402may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., acombination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality ofmicroprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSPcore, or any other such configuration.

The memory 404 may include a cache memory (e.g., a cache memory of theprocessor 402), random access memory (RAM), magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM),read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasableprogrammable read only memory (EPROM), electrically erasableprogrammable read only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid state memorydevice, hard disk drives, other forms of volatile and non-volatilememory, or a combination of different types of memory. In an embodiment,the memory 404 includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium. Thememory 404 may store instructions 406. The instructions 406 may includeinstructions that, when executed by the processor 402, cause theprocessor 402 to perform the operations described herein with referenceto the UEs 115 in connection with embodiments of the present disclosure,for example, aspects of FIGS. 6-14. Instructions 406 may also bereferred to as code. The terms “instructions” and “code” should beinterpreted broadly to include any type of computer-readablestatement(s). For example, the terms “instructions” and “code” may referto one or more programs, routines, sub-routines, functions, procedures,etc. “Instructions” and “code” may include a single computer-readablestatement or many computer-readable statements.

The BWP-based communication module 408 may be implemented via hardware,software, or combinations thereof. For example, the BWP-basedcommunication module 408 may be implemented as a processor, circuit,and/or instructions 406 stored in the memory 404 and executed by theprocessor 402. The BWP-based communication module 408 may be used forvarious aspects of the present disclosure, for example, aspects of FIGS.6-14. For example, the BWP-based communication module 408 is configuredto receive a BWP configuration from a BS (e.g., the BSs 105), performLBTs based on a primary channel within an active BWP, receive schedulinggrants from the BS, and/or communicate with the BS in the active BWPbased on the scheduling grants. In some embodiments, a scheduling grantcan indicate a frequency interlace. In such embodiments, the BWP-basedcommunication module 408 is configured to communicate with the BS usinga portion of the allocated frequency interlace within the active BWP.Mechanisms for communicating with a BS based on BWPs are described ingreater detail herein.

As shown, the transceiver 410 may include the modem subsystem 412 andthe RF unit 414. The transceiver 410 can be configured to communicatebi-directionally with other devices, such as the BSs 105. The modemsubsystem 412 may be configured to modulate and/or encode the data fromthe memory 404, and/or the BWP-based communication module 408 accordingto a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), e.g., a low-density paritycheck (LDPC) coding scheme, a turbo coding scheme, a convolutionalcoding scheme, a digital beamforming scheme, etc. The RF unit 414 may beconfigured to process (e.g., perform analog to digital conversion ordigital to analog conversion, etc.) modulated/encoded data from themodem subsystem 412 (on outbound transmissions) or of transmissionsoriginating from another source such as a UE 115 or a BS 105. The RFunit 414 may be further configured to perform analog beamforming inconjunction with the digital beamforming. Although shown as integratedtogether in transceiver 410, the modem subsystem 412 and the RF unit 414may be separate devices that are coupled together at the UE 115 toenable the UE 115 to communicate with other devices.

The RF unit 414 may provide the modulated and/or processed data, e.g.data packets (or, more generally, data messages that may contain one ormore data packets and other information), to the antennas 416 fortransmission to one or more other devices. The antennas 416 may furtherreceive data messages transmitted from other devices. The antennas 416may provide the received data messages for processing and/ordemodulation at the transceiver 410. The antennas 416 may includemultiple antennas of similar or different designs in order to sustainmultiple transmission links. The RF unit 414 may configure the antennas416.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an exemplary BS 500 according toembodiments of the present disclosure. The BS 500 may be a BS 105 asdiscussed above. A shown, the BS 500 may include a processor 502, amemory 504, a BWP-based communication module 508, a transceiver 510including a modem subsystem 512 and a RF unit 514, and one or moreantennas 516. These elements may be in direct or indirect communicationwith each other, for example via one or more buses.

The processor 502 may have various features as a specific-typeprocessor. For example, these may include a CPU, a DSP, an ASIC, acontroller, a FPGA device, another hardware device, a firmware device,or any combination thereof configured to perform the operationsdescribed herein. The processor 502 may also be implemented as acombination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and amicroprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or moremicroprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The memory 504 may include a cache memory (e.g., a cache memory of theprocessor 402), RAM, MRAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, asolid state memory device, one or more hard disk drives, memristor-basedarrays, other forms of volatile and non-volatile memory, or acombination of different types of memory. In some embodiments, thememory 504 may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium. Thememory 504 may store instructions 506. The instructions 506 may includeinstructions that, when executed by the processor 502, cause theprocessor 502 to perform operations described herein, for example,aspects of FIGS. 6-14. Instructions 506 may also be referred to as code,which may be interpreted broadly to include any type ofcomputer-readable statement(s) as discussed above with respect to FIG.4.

The BWP-based communication module 508 may be implemented via hardware,software, or combinations thereof. For example, BWP-based communicationmodule 508 may be implemented as a processor, circuit, and/orinstructions 506 stored in the memory 504 and executed by the processor502. The BWP-based communication module 508 may be used for variousaspects of the present disclosure, for example, aspects of FIGS. 6-14.For example, the BWP-based communication module 508 is configured toconfigure BWPs in a frequency band based on a primary channel in thefrequency band, transmit the BWP configurations to a UE (e.g., the UEs115 and 400), perform LBT in the frequency band based on the primarychannel, assign an active BWP to a UE, and/or communicate with the UE inan active BWP. The BWP-based communication module 508 can be furtherconfigured to determine guard bands for the BWPs based on BWs of theBWPs, determine a common reference PRB for a PRB grid for mapping theBWPs onto the PRB grid, configure frequency interlaces based on the PRBgrid, allocate frequency interlaces to UEs, and/or communicate with UEsbased on an active BWP and allocated frequency interlaces. Mechanismsfor communicating with UEs based on BWPs are described in greater detailherein.

As shown, the transceiver 510 may include the modem subsystem 512 andthe RF unit 514. The transceiver 510 can be configured to communicatebi-directionally with other devices, such as the UEs 115 and/or anothercore network element. The modem subsystem 512 may be configured tomodulate and/or encode data according to a MCS, e.g., a LDPC codingscheme, a turbo coding scheme, a convolutional coding scheme, a digitalbeamforming scheme, etc. The RF unit 514 may be configured to process(e.g., perform analog to digital conversion or digital to analogconversion, etc.) modulated/encoded data from the modem subsystem 512(on outbound transmissions) or of transmissions originating from anothersource such as a UE 115 or 400. The RF unit 514 may be furtherconfigured to perform analog beamforming in conjunction with the digitalbeamforming. Although shown as integrated together in transceiver 510,the modem subsystem 512 and the RF unit 514 may be separate devices thatare coupled together at the BS 105 to enable the BS 105 to communicatewith other devices.

The RF unit 514 may provide the modulated and/or processed data, e.g.data packets (or, more generally, data messages that may contain one ormore data packets and other information), to the antennas 516 fortransmission to one or more other devices. The antennas 516 may furtherreceive data messages transmitted from other devices and provide thereceived data messages for processing and/or demodulation at thetransceiver 510. The antennas 516 may include multiple antennas ofsimilar or different designs in order to sustain multiple transmissionlinks.

FIG. 6 illustrates a BWP configuration scheme 600 according to someembodiments of the present disclosure. The scheme 600 may be employed bythe network 100. In particular, a BS 105 may employ the scheme 600 toconfigure BWPs in a shared frequency band or an unlicensed frequencyband 604. In FIG. 6, the x-axis represents frequency in some constantunits. The scheme 600 partitions the frequency band 604 into a pluralityof channels 606 as shown in the channel configuration 602. Each channel606 may include a plurality of PRBs (e.g., the PRBs 202). The frequencyband 604 and the channels 606 may have any suitable BWs. As an example,the frequency band 604 may have a BW of about 80 MHz and may bepartitioned into about four channels 606, where each channel 606 mayhave a BW of about 20 MHz. The channels 606 are shown as C0, C1, C2, andC3.

The scheme 600 allows for a flexible BWP configuration, where a channelaccess may be over one, two, three, or all four channels 606. Inaddition, the scheme 600 may allow for channel access overnon-contiguous channels 606. In other words, the scheme 600 may notrestrict a BWP 610 to include contiguous PRBs 202 as in theconfiguration 200. Thus, the scheme 600 may configure up to about 15different BWPs 610 with the four channels 606.

The scheme 600 may configure a BWP including a group 608 a of BWPs 610,each including one channel 606 shown by the pattern-filled boxes. Forexample, the BWP 610 ₍₀₎ includes the channel C0 606, the BWP 610 ₍₁₎includes the channel C1 606, the BWP 610 ₍₂₎ includes the channel C2606, and the BWP 610 ₍₃₎ includes the channel C3 606.

The scheme 600 may further configure a group 608 b of BWPs 610, eachincluding two channels 606 shown by the pattern-filled boxes. Forexample, the BWP 610 ₍₄₎ includes the channels C0 and C1 606, the BWP610 ₍₅₎ includes the channels C1 and C2 606, the BWP 610 ₍₆₎ includesthe channels C2 and C3 606, the BWP 610 ₍₇₎ includes the channels C0 andC2 606, the BWP 610 ₍₈₎ includes the channels C0 and C3 606, and the BWP610 ₍₉₎ includes the channels C1 and C3 606.

The scheme 600 may configure a group 608 c of BWPs 610, each includingthree channels 606 shown by the pattern-filled boxes. For example, theBWP 610 ₍₁₀₎ includes the channels C0, C1, and C2 606, the BWP 610 ₍₁₁₎includes the channels C1, C2, and C3 606, the BWP 610 ₍₁₂₎ includes thechannels C0, C2, and C3 606, and the BWP 610 ₍₁₃₎ includes the channelsC0, C1, and C3 606. The scheme 600 may further configure a BWP 610 ₍₁₄₎including all four channels 606 shown by the pattern-filled boxes.

A BS may configure a UE with any of the BWPs 610. The BS may communicatewith the UE in a corresponding BWP 610 after performing an LBT inchannels 606 within the corresponding BWP 610. The BS may assigndifferent BWPs 610 to different UEs. The BS may assign overlapping BWPs610 to different UEs. For example, the BS may assign the BWP 610 ₍₃₎including the channel C3 606 to one UE and assign the BWP 610 ₍₆₎including the channels C2 and C3 606 to another UE. In addition, a BSmay configure DL and UL BWP pairs with different center frequencies. Forexample, a BS may configure a DL BWP 610 ₍₄₎ (e.g., including channelsC0 and C1 606) paired with a UL BWP 610 ₍₉₎ (e.g., including channels C1and C3 606) for communication with a UE. Similar to the configuration200, a UE may be configured with one active BWP or an active UL/DL BWPpair at a given time and may not be required to monitor signals outsidethe active DL BWP or transmit signals outside the active UL BWP.

FIGS. 7-10 illustrate various mechanisms for configuring a sharedfrequency band or an unlicensed frequency band (e.g., the frequencyband) with a maximum of about four BWPs based on a primary channel inwhich LBT is performed to gain channel access. In FIGS. 7-10, the x-axesrepresent frequency in some constant units.

FIG. 7 illustrates a BWP configuration scheme 700 according to someembodiments of the present disclosure. The scheme 700 can be employed bya BS such as the BS 105. The scheme 700 is illustrated using the samechannel structure as in the channel configuration 602 of the scheme 600.The scheme 700 may select one of the channels 606 as a primary channel702. For example, the scheme 700 may select the channel C0 606 as theprimary channel 702 as shown by the pattern-filled box. The scheme 700may configure BWPs 710 based on the primary channel 702 such that eachBWP 710 may include the primary channel 702. A channel access in any ofthe BWP 710 may be dependent on an LBT result (e.g., a busy channelstatus or a clear channels status) in the primary channel 702, asdescribed in greater detail herein.

The scheme 700 may configure a maximum of about four BWPs 710 in thefrequency band 604, each including one or more contiguous channels 606including the primary channel 702. For example, the BWP 710 ₍₀₎ includesthe channel C0 606 corresponding to the primary channel 702. The BWP 710₍₁₎ includes the channels C0 606 corresponding to the primary channel702 and the channel C1 606. The BWP 710 ₍₂₎ includes the channels C0 606corresponding to the primary channel 702 and the channels C1 and C2 606.The BWP 710 ₍₃₎ includes all channels 606 including the primary channel702 (e.g., the channel C0 606).

ABS may configure a UE with any of the BWPs 710. A BS or a UE maymonitor the channel status of the primary channel 702 for channel accessirrespective of which BWP 710 is intended for the channel access.Similar to the configuration 200, a BS may configure a UE with oneactive BWP or one active UL/DL BWP pair at a given time and the UE maynot be required to monitor any signal outside the DL active BWP ortransmit any signal outside the active UL BWP.

In an embodiment, a BS may configure a UE with the BWP 710 ₍₁₎ includingthe channels C0 and C1 606 for UL or DL communications. The BS mayschedule resources within the BWP 710 ₍₁₎ for communications with theUE. The BS may perform an LBT in the primary channel 702 beforetransmitting a DL signal to the UE. For example, the BS may listen for areservation signal (e.g., including a predetermined preamble signal) inthe primary channel 702 to gain access to a TXOP in the BWP 710 ₍₁₎.When the primary channel 702 is clear, the BS may transmit a reservationsignal in the primary channel 702 to reserve the TXOP so that othernodes may refrain from accessing the frequency band 604 during thereserved TXOP. Subsequently, the BS may transmit a DL signal to the UEin the BWP 710 ₍₁₎. It should be noted that as long the BS detects anactive transmission in the primary channel 702, the BS may refrain fromaccessing the BWP 710 ₍₁₎ irrespective of whether the channel C1 606 isbusy or idle.

In an embodiment, a BS may configure a UL/DL BWP pair for a UE. Forexample, the UL/DL BWP pair may include the BWP 710 ₍₁₎ (e.g., includingthe channels C0 and C1 606) for DL and the BWP 710 ₍₀₎ (e.g., includingthe channel C0 606) for UL. Alternatively, the UL/DL BWP pair mayinclude the BWP 710 ₍₁₎ (e.g., including the channels C0 and C1 606) forDL and the BWP 710 ₍₀₎ (e.g., including the channel C0 606) for UL. Yetalternatively, the UL/DL BWP pair may include the BWP 710 ₍₁₎ (e.g.,including the channels C0 and C1 606) for DL and the same BWP 710 ₍₁₎for UL.

As described above with respect to FIG. 1, a BS may broadcast systeminformation associated with a network in the form of SSBs. The BWP inwhich a BS transmits the SSBs may be referred to as the initial activeDL BWP. The initial active DL BWP may be configured with a controlresource set (CORESET) for RMSI communications. When an initial activeDL BWP falls within a primary channel (e.g., the primary channel 702),the scheme 700 may configure up to about three additional BWPs 710 inthe frequency band 604. For example, the scheme 700 may configure afirst BWP including the initial active DL BWP and three additional BWPs710, which may include the BWPs 710 ₍₀₎, 710 ₍₁₎, and 710 ₍₃₎. When theSSBs do not fall within a primary channel, the scheme 700 may configureup to about four BWPs 710. Similar to the configuration 200, the set ofchannels 606 may start at a certain frequency location, for example, areference starting subcarrier 704 for a lowest-frequency PRB (e.g., thecommon reference PRB 204). Mechanisms for determining a common referencePRB for mapping the channels 606 are described in greater detail herein.

FIG. 8 illustrates a BWP configuration scheme 800 according to someembodiments of the present disclosure. The scheme 800 can be employed bya BS such as the BS 105. The scheme 700 is illustrated using the samechannel structure as in the channel configuration 602 of the scheme 600.The scheme 800 is similar to the scheme 700, but the scheme 800 selectsa primary channel 802 at a different channel location. As shown, theprimary channel 802 corresponds to the channel C1 606. Similar to thescheme 700, the scheme 800 may configure about four BWPs 810 in thefrequency band 604 based on the primary channel 802. As shown, the BWP810 ₍₀₎ includes the channel C1 606, the BWP 810 ₍₁₎ includes thechannels C1 and C2 606, the BWP 710 ₍₂₎ includes the channels C1, C2,and C3 606, and the BWP 810 ₍₃₎ includes all channels 606. Similar tothe scheme 700, channel accesses in any of the BWPs 810 may be dependenton an LBT result in the primary channel 802.

FIG. 9 illustrates a BWP configuration scheme 900 with frequency-hoppingaccording to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The scheme 900can be employed by a BS such as the BS 105. The scheme 900 isillustrated using the same channel structure as in the channelconfiguration 602 of the scheme 600. The scheme 900 is substantiallysimilar to the schemes 700 and 800, but may apply frequency-hopping to aprimary channel 902 (e.g., the primary channels 702 and 802) instead ofconfiguring BWPs semi-statically as in the schemes 700 and 800. Thescheme 900 may determine a frequency-hopping pattern 904 for the primarychannel 902. For example, the primary channel 902 may frequency-hopbetween the channel C0 606 and the channel C2 606 as shown by the arrow950.

At time t1, the scheme 900 may configure the primary channel 902 at thechannel C0 606 as shown by the configuration 906. The configuration 906includes BWPs 910 _((t1)), 920 _((t1)), 930 _((t1)), and 940 _((t1))similar to the BWPs 710 ₍₀₎, 710 ₍₁₎, 710 ₍₂₎, and 710 ₍₃₎,respectively, in the scheme 700.

At time t2, the scheme 900 may frequency-hopped the primary channel 902from the channel C0 606 to the channel C2 606 as shown by thefrequency-hopped configuration 908. The configuration 908 includes BWPs910 _((t2)), 920 _((t2)), 930 _((t2)), and 940 _((t2)). The BWPs 910_((t2)), 920 ₍₂₎, 930 _((t2)), and 940 _((t2)) are frequency-hoppedbased on the primary channel frequency-hopping pattern 904. As shown,the BWP 910 _((t2)) includes the channel C2 606, the BWP 920 _((t21))includes the channels C2 and C3 606, the BWP 930 _((t2)) includes thechannels C1, C2, and C3 606, and the BWP 940 _((t2)) includes allchannels 606.

Similar to the schemes 700 and 800, channel accesses in any of the BWPs910 may be dependent on an LBT result in the primary channel 902. In anembodiment, a BS may signal a primary frequency-hopping pattern (e.g.,the frequency-hopping pattern 904) to UEs in a network. The BS and theUEs may perform LBT and communicate with each other based on thefrequency-hopping pattern. While the scheme 900 illustrates thefrequency-hopping pattern 904 with the primary channel 902 hoppingbetween the channel C0 606 and the channel C2 606, the frequency-hoppingpattern 904 can include any suitable hopping pattern. For example, theprimary channel 902 may hop sequentially across the channels 606, fromC0 to C1, from C1 to C2, from C2 to C3, and from C3 back to C0.

Regulatory authorities may govern certain unlicensed frequency bands.For example, a regulatory authority may set a transmission powerspectral density (PSD) requirement or limit of about 10decibel-milliwatt per megahertz (dBm/MHz) for a certain unlicensedfrequency band. However, UEs (e.g., the UEs 115) and/or BSs (e.g., theBSs 105) are typically capable of transmitting at about 23decibel-milliwatt (dBm). One approach to allowing a node (a UE or a BS)to transmit at a higher power, for example, up to the full power ofabout 23 dBm, while meeting a PSD requirement is to allocate resourcesin disjoint frequency blocks so that a transmission signal may be spreadover a wider BW. For example, an allocation may include a set ofinterlaced frequency resources (e.g., the PRBs 202) spaced apart fromeach other over a frequency band (e.g., the frequency bands 210 and 604)and interlacing with another set of frequency resources. A set ofinterlaced frequency resources may be referred to as frequencyinterlaces.

In some embodiments, the number of frequency interlaces and/or thenumber of frequency resources in a frequency interlace may varydepending on the BW of the frequency band and the BW of the frequencyresources. For example, a 10 MHz BWP (e.g., the BWPs 710, 810, 910, 920,930, and 940) may include about 5 frequency interlaces, each includingabout 10 PRBs uniformly spaced apart by about 5 PRBs, whereas a 20 MHzBWP may include about 10 frequency interlaces, each including about 10PRBS uniformly spaced apart by about 10 PRBs. Thus, different BWs mayhave different frequency-interlaced structures. The differentfrequency-interlaced structures may cause a frequency interlace in oneBWP to overlap with a frequency interlace in another BWP. Thus,multiplexing different UEs configured with different BWPs can becomplex. One approach to overcoming such complexity is to configurenon-overlapping cell-specific BWPs and configure frequency interlaceswithin each non-overlapping BWP. ABS may configure a UE with an activeBWP and may allocate a frequency interlace within the active BWP forcommunications with the UE. However, such an approach may have a limitedflexibility.

FIG. 10 illustrates a BWP configuration scheme 1000 withinterlaced-based allocations according to some embodiments of thepresent disclosure. The scheme 1000 can be employed by a BS such as theBS 105. The scheme 1000 is illustrated using the same channel structureas in the channel configuration 602 of the scheme 600 and the same BWPconfiguration as in the scheme 700. The scheme 1000 illustrates afrequency-interlaced structure that may overcome the flexibilitylimitation described above. The scheme 1000 can be used in conjunctionwith the BWP configurations shown in the schemes 700, 800, and 900. Thescheme 1000 may partition the frequency band 604 into a plurality offrequency interlaces 1010 at a granularity-level of a PRB 202. Forsimplicity of illustration and discussion, FIG. 10 illustrates twofrequency interlaces 1010 a and 1010 b, though it will be recognizedthat embodiments of the present disclosure may scale to include anysuitable number of frequency interlaces 1010 (e.g., about 5, 10, 20, ormore) depending on the BW of the frequency band 604.

Each frequency interlace 1010 includes a set of interlaced frequencyresources 1002 (e.g., PRBs 202) spaced apart from each other in thefrequency band 604. For example, the frequency interlace 1010 a mayinclude a set of frequency resources 1002 a, whereas the frequencyinterlace 1010 b may include another set of frequency resources 1002 bfrequency-interlaced with the frequency resources 1002 a. The frequencyinterlaces 1010 may include a uniform pattern, where the frequencyresources 1002 within a frequency interlace 1010 are uniformly spacedacross the frequency band 604. Accordingly, the number of frequencyresources 1002 in a frequency interlace 1010 may be dependent on thebandwidth of the frequency band 604.

As shown in FIG. 10, the PRBs 202 are defined with respect to thereference starting subcarrier 704. Thus, the set of frequency resources1002 or the frequency interlaces 1010 are configured based on thereference starting subcarrier 704. Accordingly, the reference startingsubcarrier 704 is a reference for the frequency interlaces 1010definition.

The scheme 1000 may schedule resources in units of frequency interlaces1010. For example, a BS may configure a first UE with an active BWP 710₍₀₎ and a second UE with an active BWP 710 ₍₁₎. The BS may schedule thefrequency interlace 1010 a for the first UE and the frequency interlace1010 b for the second UE. The BS may communicate with the first UE usingthe frequency resources 1002 a of the frequency interlace 1010 a withinthe active BWP 710 ₍₀₎ marked with the symbols X. The BS may communicatewith the second UE using the frequency resources 1002 b of the frequencyinterlace 1010 b within the active BWP 710 ₍₁₎ marked with the symbols0. As can be seen, the allocations for the first UE and the second UEare non-overlapping.

In some embodiments, a BWP 710 may be configured with guard bands (e.g.,the guard bands 312, 322, and 332) at the left edge and at the rightedge of the BWP 710. In such embodiments, PRBs 202 frequency resources1002 of frequency interlaces at edges of the BWP 710 may not be used forallocations, as described in greater detail herein. While the scheme1000 is described in the context of the scheme 700, the scheme 1000 canbe used in conjunction with the schemes 600, 800, and/or 900 describedabove with respect to FIGS. 6, 8, and 9, respectively.

FIG. 11 illustrates a reference resource block configuration scheme 1100according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The scheme 1100can be employed by a BS such as the BS 105. The scheme 1100 isillustrated using the same channel structure as in the channelconfiguration 602 of the scheme 600. In FIG. 11, the x-axis representsfrequency in some constant units. As shown in the schemes 600-1000, afrequency band may include BWPs (e.g., the BWPs 610, 710, 810, or 910)of different BWs. The different BWPs with different BWs may requireguard bands (e.g., the guard bands 312, 322, and 332) of different sizesor BWs. For example, as shown in the configuration 300 described abovewith respect to FIG. 3, a wider BW may require a wider guard band. Thescheme 1100 may select a common reference PRB (e.g., the commonreference PRBs 204 and 704) for a PRB grid, where channels (e.g., thechannels 606) and BWPs may be mapped to the PRB grid.

In the configuration 1110, the scheme 1100 configures a referencestarting subcarrier 1114 (e.g., the reference starting subcarrier 704)for a common reference PRB (e.g., the common reference PRB 204) withrespect to a guard band 1112 for the BWP with the widest or largest BWin the frequency band 604. For example, the configuration 1110 mayselect the reference starting subcarrier 1114 for the common referencePRB based on a BWP (e.g., the BWP 710 ₍₃₎, 810 ₍₃₎, and 940) includingall four channels 606. As shown, the reference starting subcarrier 1114is at a frequency location after the guard band 1112.

In the configuration 1120, the scheme 1100 configures a referencestarting subcarrier 1124 for a common reference PRB with respect to aguard band 1122 for the BWP with the narrowest or smallest BW in thefrequency band 604. For example, the configuration 1110 may select thereference starting subcarrier 1124 for the common reference PRB based onthe BWP (e.g., the BWPs 710 ₍₀₎, 810 ₍₀₎, and 910) including one channel606. As shown, the reference starting subcarrier 1124 is at a frequencylocation after the guard band 1122.

In the configuration 1130, the scheme 1100 configures a referencestarting subcarrier 1134 for the common reference PRB with respect tothe BW of the system frequency band 604 with a zero guard band.

The different configurations 1110, 1120, and 1130 may provide differentBW efficiencies. For example, the configuration 1110 excluding thewidest guard band 1112 may cause a BWP with a narrower BW to have alower BW efficiency since the BWP with the narrower BW may require anarrower guard band than the guard band 1112. The configuration 1120excluding the narrowest guard band 1122 may cause a BWP with a wider BWto have a lower BW efficiency since the BWP with the wider BW mayrequire a wider guard band than the guard band 1122. A PRB including anyportion of a guard band may not be used for an allocation. Thus, atleast the first PRB at the band edge may not be usable for an allocationsince at least some of the subcarriers may be part of the wider guardband. Similarly, when using the configuration 1130, at least the firstPRB at the band edge may not be usable for an allocation for any BWPsince at least some of the subcarriers may be configured as part of aguard band. As can be seen, the number of usable PRBs in a certain BWPmay be dependent on the frequency starting location (e.g., the referencestarting subcarrier 1114, 1124, or 1134) of a common reference PRB.

FIG. 12 illustrates a BWP configuration scheme 1200 with referenceresource block consideration according to some embodiments of thepresent disclosure. The scheme 1200 can be employed by a BS such as theBS 105. The scheme 1200 is illustrated using the same channel structureas in the channel configuration 602 of the scheme 600 and the same BWPconfigurations as in the scheme 700. In FIG. 12, the x-axis representsfrequency in some constant units. The scheme 1200 may select a referencestarting subcarrier (e.g., the reference starting subcarriers 704, 1114,1124, and 1134) for a common reference PRB 1208 (e.g., the commonreference PRB 204) in a frequency band (e.g., the frequency bands 604)by considering guard bands 1252 (e.g., the guard bands 312, 322, 332,1112, and 1122) for each BWP 710 and center frequencies 1214 of eachchannel 606.

As described above, each channel 606 may include a group of PRBs 202including subcarriers of a particular SCS. The scheme 1200 may select areference starting subcarrier 1204 for the common reference PRB 1208such that the center frequencies 1214 of the channels 606 are spacedapart by a frequency separation 1220 that is an integer multiple of theSCS (e.g., as shown by the arrow 1206).

In addition, the scheme 1200 may adjust the sizes or BWs of the guardbands 1252 and may select a reference starting subcarrier 1204 for thecommon reference PRB 1208 such that each guard band 1252 for each BWP710 can provide a sufficient adjacent channel protection and can bewithin a least number of PRBs 202 (e.g., as shown by the arrow 1202). Asdescribed above, a PRB 202 including any guard band portion may not beused for an allocation. In other words, the scheme 1200 may select thereference starting subcarrier 1204 for the common reference PRB 1208 tomaximize BW efficiencies for the BWPs 710. For example, the scheme 1200may select the reference starting subcarrier 1204 for the commonreference PRB 1208 based on a metric or cost function associated with anumber of usable PRBs 202 in each BWP 710. A usable PRB 202 is a PRBthat is non-overlapping with any portion of the guard bands 1252. Insome embodiments, the scheme 1200 may include a metric including aweighted sum of the number of usable PRBs 202 in the BWPs 710.

After determining a reference starting subcarrier 1204 for the commonreference PRB 1208, the scheme 1200 configures a PRB grid 1260 withrespect to the common reference PRB 1208 and maps the channels 606 tothe PRB grid 1260 as shown in the mapping 1250. For example, each of theguard bands 1252 is within one PRB 202.

While the scheme 1200 is described in the context of the scheme 700, thescheme 1200 can be used in conjunction with the schemes 600, 800, 900,and/or 1000 described above with respect to FIGS. 6, 8, 9, and/or 10,respectively. In an embodiment, when employing the scheme 1200 inconjunction with the scheme 600, the scheme 1200 may determine guardbands for non-contiguous channels at edges of the non-contiguouschannels since another device may transmit in a channel between thenon-contiguous channels. For example, in the BWP 610 ₍₁₂₎, a left guardband may be inserted at the left edge of the channel C2 606 and a rightguard band may be inserted at the right edge of the channel C0 606 sinceanother device may transmit in the channel C1 606.

FIG. 13 is a signaling diagram of a BWP-based communication method 1300according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 1300is implemented by a BS (e.g., the BSs 105 and 500) and a UE (e.g., theUEs 115 and 400) in a network (e.g., the network 100). Steps of themethod 1300 can be executed by computing devices (e.g., a processor,processing circuit, and/or other suitable component) of the BS and theUE. As illustrated, the method 1300 includes a number of enumeratedsteps, but embodiments of the method 1300 may include additional stepsbefore, after, and in between the enumerated steps. In some embodiments,one or more of the enumerated steps may be omitted or performed in adifferent order.

At step 1310, the BS determines a BWP configuration. The BS maypartition a frequency band (e.g., the frequency band 604) into aplurality of channels (e.g., the channels 606). The BS may determine anumber of BWPs (e.g., the BWPs 610, 710, 810, 910, 920, 930, and 940) inthe frequency band based on an expected channel access patternassociated with an LBT in the frequency band. In some embodiments, oneor more of the BWPs may include non-contiguous channels, for example, asshown in the scheme 600. In some embodiments, the BS may not allownon-contiguous channels in a BWP, for example, as shown in the scheme700, 800, and/or 900. In some embodiments, the BS may configure the BWPsbased on a primary channel (e.g., the primary channels 702, 802, and902) used for LBT, for example, by employing the schemes 700 and 800.

The BS may select a reference starting subcarrier (e.g., the referencestarting subcarriers 704, 1114, 1124, 1134, and 1204) or a commonreference PRB (e.g., the PRB 204 and 1208) for a PRB grid (e.g., the PRBgrid 1260) and may map the BWPs to the PRB grid, for example, byemploying the schemes 1100 and/or 1200. In an embodiment, the BS mayfurther determine a frequency-hopping pattern (e.g., thefrequency-hopping pattern 904) for the primary channel, for example, asshown in the scheme 900. In an embodiment, the BS may further configurea plurality of frequency interlaces (e.g., the frequency interlaces1010), for example, as shown in the scheme 1000.

At step 1320, the BS transmits a BWP configuration to the UE. The BWPconfiguration may indicate information associated with the configuredBWPs and/or frequency interlaces (e.g., the frequency interlaces 1010).The BS may transmit the BWP configuration in an RRC message.

At step 1330, the BS performs an LBT in one or more channels. Forexample, the LBT may indicate a channel clear status for one or morechannels. In some embodiments, when the BWPs are configured based on aprimary channel, the BS may perform the LBT based on the primarychannel.

At step 1340, upon completing a successful LBT, the BS assigns an activeBWP including channels that pass the LBT to the UE.

At step 1350, the BS transmits an active BWP configuration to the UE.The configuration may include the assigned active BWP.

At step 1360, the BS determines an allocation for the UE. The BSallocates resources within the active BWP for the UE. In someembodiments, the BS may allocate a frequency interlace for the UE.

At step 1370, the BS transmits the allocation to the UE, for example, inthe form of downlink control information (DCI) in a physical downlinkcontrol channel (PDCCH).

At step 1380, the UE transmits a communication signal to the BS usingresources indicated in the allocation. When the allocation indicates anallocated frequency interlace, the UE may transmit the communicationsignal using portions of the frequency interlace within the active BWP.In some embodiments, the UE may optionally perform an LBT in theassigned active BWP prior to transmitting the communication signal. Insome instances, the communication signal may include at least one of aPUCCH signal or a PUSCH signal.

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram of a BWP-based communication method accordingto embodiments of the present disclosure. Steps of the method 1400 canbe executed by a computing device (e.g., a processor, processingcircuit, and/or other suitable component) of a wireless communicationdevice or other suitable means for performing the steps. In an example,a wireless communication device, such as the UE 115 or UE 400, mayutilize one or more components, such as the processor 402, the memory404, the BWP-based communication module 408, the transceiver 410, themodem 412, and the one or more antennas 416, to execute the steps ofmethod 1400. In another example, a wireless communication device, suchas the BS 105 or BS 500, may utilize one or more components, such as theprocessor 502, the memory 504, the BWP-based communication module 408,the transceiver 510, the modem 512, and the one or more antennas 516, toexecute the steps of method 1400. The method 1400 may employ similarmechanisms as in the schemes 700, 800, 900, 1000, 1100, 1200, and/or themethod 1300 described with respect to FIGS. 7, 8, 9, 10, 10, 11, 12,and/or 13, respectively. As illustrated, the method 1400 includes anumber of enumerated steps, but embodiments of the method 1400 mayinclude additional steps before, after, and in between the enumeratedsteps. In some embodiments, one or more of the enumerated steps may beomitted or performed in a different order.

At step 1410, the method 1400 includes communicating, by a firstwireless communication device with a second wireless communicationdevice, a first configuration indicating a plurality of BWPs (e.g., theBWPs 710, 810, 910, 920, 930, and 940) in a frequency band (e.g., thefrequency band 604), the plurality of BWPs based on an expected channelaccess associated with an LBT in the frequency band. In one embodiment,the first wireless communication device may correspond to a BS and thesecond wireless communication device may correspond to a UE. In anotherembodiment, the first wireless communication device may correspond to aUE and the second wireless communication device may correspond to a BS.

At step 1420, the method 1400 includes communicating, by the firstwireless communication device with the second wireless communicationdevice, a first communication signal in a first BWP (e.g., an activeBWP) of the plurality of BWPs based on an LBT result. In some instances,the first communication signal may include at least one of a PUCCHsignal or a PUSCH signal.

In an embodiment, the frequency band may include a plurality of channels(e.g., the channels 606). Each BWP of the plurality of BWPs may includeone or more channels of the plurality of channels. In an embodiment, thefirst bandwidth part includes at least two non-contiguous channels ofthe plurality of channels. In an embodiment, the plurality of channelsincludes a common primary channel. Each BWP of the plurality of BWPs mayinclude the common primary channel. Each BWP of the plurality of BWP mayinclude one or more contiguous channels of the plurality of channels.

In an embodiment, the first wireless communication device may furtherdetermine a reference starting subcarrier (e.g., the reference startingsubcarriers 704, 1114, 1124, 1134, and 1204) in the frequency band for aplurality of resource blocks (e.g., the PRBs 202), each including aplurality of subcarriers in the frequency band. Each channel of theplurality of channels includes one or more resource blocks of theplurality of resource blocks.

In an embodiment, the first wireless communication device may furtherdetermine a plurality of guard bands (e.g., the guard bands 1252) forthe plurality of BWPs. In an embodiment, the determination can be basedon a metric associated with a number of resource blocks in eachbandwidth part that are non-overlapping with a resource block includinga portion of the plurality of guard bands. In an embodiment, thedetermination may be such that such that center frequencies (e.g., thecenter frequencies 1214) of the plurality of channels are spaced apartfrom each other in the frequency band by an integer multiple of asubcarrier spacing of the plurality of subcarriers. In an embodiment,the determination can be based on a guard band of a BWP including asmallest bandwidth among the plurality of bandwidth parts, for example,as shown in the configuration 1120. In an embodiment, the determinationcan be based on a guard band of a BWP including a widest bandwidth amongthe plurality of bandwidth parts, for example, as shown in theconfiguration 1110.

In an embodiment, the frequency band includes at least a first set ofresource blocks (e.g., the frequency interlaces 1010 a) interlaced witha second set of resource blocks (e.g., the frequency interlaces 1010 a).In such an embodiment, the first wireless communication device maycommunicate the first communication signal with the second wirelesscommunication device in at least a portion of the first set of resourceblocks within the first BWP.

In an embodiment, the first wireless communication device maycommunicate a second configuration withe the second wirelesscommunication device. The second configuration may indicate afrequency-hopping pattern (e.g., the frequency-hopping pattern 904) forthe common primary channel. The first wireless communication may applyfrequency-hopping to the first BWP based on the frequency-hoppingpattern. The first wireless communication device may communicate asecond communication signal with the second wireless communicationdevice in the frequency-hopped first bandwidth part.

Information and signals may be represented using any of a variety ofdifferent technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions,commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may bereferenced throughout the above description may be represented byvoltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles,optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

The various illustrative blocks and modules described in connection withthe disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with ageneral-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmablelogic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardwarecomponents, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functionsdescribed herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor,but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or moremicroprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration).

The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, softwareexecuted by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. Ifimplemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may bestored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are withinthe scope of the disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to thenature of software, functions described above can be implemented usingsoftware executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, orcombinations of any of these. Features implementing functions may alsobe physically located at various positions, including being distributedsuch that portions of functions are implemented at different physicallocations. Also, as used herein, including in the claims, “or” as usedin a list of items (for example, a list of items prefaced by a phrasesuch as “at least one of” or “one or more of”) indicates an inclusivelist such that, for example, a list of [at least one of A, B, or C]means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C).

Further embodiments of the present disclosure include a method ofwireless communication, comprising communicating, by a first wirelesscommunication device with a second wireless communication device, afirst configuration indicating a plurality of bandwidth parts in afrequency band, the plurality of bandwidth parts based on an expectedchannel access pattern associated with a listen-before-talk (LBT) in thefrequency band; and communicating, by the first wireless communicationdevice with the second wireless communication device, a firstcommunication signal in a first bandwidth part of the plurality ofbandwidth parts based on an LBT result.

In some embodiments, wherein the frequency band includes a plurality ofchannels, and wherein each bandwidth part of the plurality of bandwidthparts includes one or more channels of the plurality of channels. Insome embodiments, wherein the first bandwidth part includes at least twonon-contiguous channels of the plurality of channels. In someembodiments, wherein the plurality of channels includes a common primarychannel, and wherein each bandwidth part of the plurality of bandwidthparts includes the common primary channel. In some embodiments, whereineach bandwidth includes one or more contiguous channels of the pluralityof channels. In some embodiments, the method further comprisescommunicating, by the first wireless communication device with thesecond wireless communication device, a second configuration indicatinga frequency-hopping pattern for the common primary channel;frequency-hopping, by the first wireless communication device, the firstbandwidth part based on the frequency-hopping pattern; andcommunicating, by the first wireless communication device with thesecond wireless communication device, a second communication signal inthe frequency-hopped first bandwidth part. In some embodiments, themethod further comprises determining, by the first wirelesscommunication device, a reference starting subcarrier in the frequencyband for a plurality of resource blocks, each including a plurality ofsubcarriers in the frequency band, wherein each channel of the pluralityof channels includes one or more resource blocks of the plurality ofresource blocks. In some embodiments, the method further comprisesdetermining, by the first wireless communication device, a plurality ofguard bands for the plurality of bandwidth parts, wherein thedetermining the reference starting subcarrier is based on a metricassociated with a number of resource blocks in each bandwidth part thatare non-overlapping with a resource block including a portion of theplurality of guard bands. In some embodiments, wherein the determiningthe plurality of guard bands further includes determining the pluralityof guard bands such that center frequencies of the plurality of channelsare spaced apart from each other in the frequency band by an integermultiple of a subcarrier spacing of the plurality of subcarriers. Insome embodiments, wherein the determining is based on a guard band of abandwidth part including a largest bandwidth among the plurality ofbandwidth parts. In some embodiments, wherein the determining is basedon a guard band of a bandwidth part including a smallest bandwidth amongthe plurality of bandwidth parts. In some embodiments, wherein thefrequency band includes at least a first set of resource blocksinterlaced with a second set of resource blocks, and wherein thecommunicating includes communicating, by the first wirelesscommunication device with the second wireless communication device, thefirst communication signal in at least a portion of the first set ofresource blocks within the first bandwidth part. In some embodiments,the method further comprises determining, by the first wirelesscommunication device, the first set of resource blocks and the secondset of resource blocks based on a reference starting subcarrier in thefrequency band.

Further embodiments of the present disclosure include an apparatuscomprising a transceiver configured to communicate, with a secondwireless communication device, a first configuration indicating aplurality of bandwidth parts in a frequency band, the plurality ofbandwidth parts based on an expected channel access pattern associatedwith a listen-before-talk (LBT) in the frequency band; and communicate,with the second wireless communication device, a first communicationsignal in a first bandwidth part of the plurality of bandwidth partsbased on an LBT result.

In some embodiments, wherein the frequency band includes a plurality ofchannels, and wherein each bandwidth part of the plurality of bandwidthparts includes one or more channels of the plurality of channels. Insome embodiments, wherein the first bandwidth part includes at least twonon-contiguous channels of the plurality of channels. In someembodiments, wherein the plurality of channels includes a common primarychannel, and wherein each bandwidth part of the plurality of bandwidthparts includes the common primary channel. In some embodiments, whereineach bandwidth includes one or more contiguous channels of the pluralityof channels. In some embodiments, wherein the transceiver is furtherconfigured to communicate, with the second wireless communicationdevice, a second configuration indicating a frequency-hopping patternfor the common primary channel, wherein the apparatus further incudes aprocessor configured to a apply frequency-hopping to the first bandwidthpart based on a frequency-hopping pattern, and wherein the transceiveris further configured to communicate, with the second wirelesscommunication device, a second communication signal in thefrequency-hopped first bandwidth part. In some embodiments, theapparatus further comprises a processor configured to determine areference starting subcarrier in the frequency band for a plurality ofresource blocks, each including a plurality of subcarriers in thefrequency band, wherein each channel of the plurality of channelsincludes one or more resource blocks of the plurality of resourceblocks. In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises a processorconfigured to determine a plurality of guard bands for the plurality ofbandwidth parts, wherein the reference starting subcarrier is determinedfurther based on a metric associated with a number of resource blocks ineach bandwidth part that are non-overlapping with a resource blockincluding a portion of the plurality of guard bands. In someembodiments, wherein the processor is further configured to determiningthe plurality of guard bands such that center frequencies of theplurality of channels are spaced apart from each other in the frequencyband by an integer multiple of a subcarrier spacing of the plurality ofsubcarriers. In some embodiments, wherein the reference startingsubcarrier is determined further based on a guard band of a bandwidthpart including a largest bandwidth among the plurality of bandwidthparts. In some embodiments, where the reference starting subcarrier isdetermined further based on a guard band of a bandwidth part including asmallest bandwidth among the plurality of bandwidth parts. In someembodiments, wherein the frequency band includes at least a first set ofresource blocks interlaced with a second set of resource blocks, andwherein the transceiver is further configured to communicating the firstcommunication signal in at least a portion of the first set of resourceblocks within the first bandwidth part. In some embodiments, theapparatus further comprises a processor configured to determine thefirst set of resource blocks and the second set of resource blocks basedon a reference starting subcarrier in the frequency band.

Further embodiments of the present disclosure include acomputer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon, theprogram code comprising code for causing a first wireless communicationdevice to communicate, with a second wireless communication device, afirst configuration indicating a plurality of bandwidth parts in afrequency band, the plurality of bandwidth parts based on an expectedchannel access pattern associated with a listen-before-talk (LBT) in thefrequency band; and code for causing the first wireless communicationdevice to communicate, with the second wireless communication device, afirst communication signal in a first bandwidth part of the plurality ofbandwidth parts based on an LBT result.

In some embodiments, wherein the frequency band includes a plurality ofchannels, and wherein each bandwidth part of the plurality of bandwidthparts includes one or more channels of the plurality of channels. Insome embodiments, wherein the first bandwidth part includes at least twonon-contiguous channels of the plurality of channels. In someembodiments, wherein the plurality of channels includes a common primarychannel, and wherein each bandwidth part of the plurality of bandwidthparts includes the common primary channel. In some embodiments, whereineach bandwidth includes one or more contiguous channels of the pluralityof channels. In some embodiments, the computer-readable medium furthercomprises code for causing the first wireless communication device tocommunicate, with the second wireless communication device, a secondconfiguration indicating a frequency-hopping pattern for the commonprimary channel; code for causing the first wireless communicationdevice to apply frequency-hopping to the first bandwidth part based onthe frequency-hopping pattern; and code for causing the first wirelesscommunication device to communicate, with the second wirelesscommunication device, a second communication signal in thefrequency-hopped first bandwidth part. In some embodiments, thecomputer-readable medium further comprises code for causing the firstwireless communication device to determine a reference startingsubcarrier in the frequency band for a plurality of resource blocks,each including a plurality of subcarriers in the frequency band, whereineach channel of the plurality of channels includes one or more resourceblocks of the plurality of resource blocks. In some embodiments, thecomputer-readable medium further comprises code for causing the firstwireless communication device to determine a plurality of guard bandsfor the plurality of bandwidth parts, wherein the code for causing thefirst wireless communication device to determine the reference startingsubcarrier is further configured to determine reference startingsubcarrier based on a metric associated with a number of resource blocksin each bandwidth part that are non-overlapping with a resource blockincluding a portion of the plurality of guard bands. In someembodiments, wherein the code for causing the first wirelesscommunication device to determine the plurality of guard bands isfurther configured to determine the plurality of guard bands such thatcenter frequencies of the plurality of channels are spaced apart fromeach other in the frequency band by an integer multiple of a subcarrierspacing of the plurality of subcarriers. In some embodiments, whereinthe code for causing the first wireless communication device todetermine the reference starting subcarrier is further configured todetermine the reference starting subcarrier based on a guard band of abandwidth part including a largest bandwidth among the plurality ofbandwidth parts. In some embodiments, wherein the code for causing thefirst wireless communication device to determine the reference startingsubcarrier is further configured to determine the reference startingsubcarrier based on a guard band of a bandwidth part including asmallest bandwidth among the plurality of bandwidth parts. In someembodiments, wherein the frequency band includes at least a first set ofresource blocks interlaced with a second set of resource blocks, andwherein the code for causing the first wireless communication device tocommunicate the first communication signal is further configured tocommunicate, with the second wireless communication device, the firstcommunication signal in at least a portion of the first set of resourceblocks within the first bandwidth part. In some embodiments, thecomputer-readable medium further comprises code for causing the firstwireless communication device to determine the first set of resourceblocks and the second set of resource blocks based on a referencestarting subcarrier in the frequency band.

Further embodiments of the present disclosure include an apparatuscomprising means for communicating, with a second wireless communicationdevice, a first configuration indicating a plurality of bandwidth partsin a frequency band, the plurality of bandwidth parts based on anexpected channel access pattern associated with a listen-before-talk(LBT) in the frequency band; and means for communicating, with thesecond wireless communication device, a first communication signal in afirst bandwidth part of the plurality of bandwidth parts based on an LBTresult.

In some embodiments, wherein the frequency band includes a plurality ofchannels, and wherein each bandwidth part of the plurality of bandwidthparts includes one or more channels of the plurality of channels. Insome embodiments, wherein the first bandwidth part includes at least twonon-contiguous channels of the plurality of channels. In someembodiments, wherein the plurality of channels includes a common primarychannel, and wherein each bandwidth part of the plurality of bandwidthparts includes the common primary channel. In some embodiments, whereineach bandwidth includes one or more contiguous channels of the pluralityof channels. In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises meansfor communicating, with the second wireless communication device, asecond configuration indicating a frequency-hopping pattern for thecommon primary channel; means for frequency-hopping to the firstbandwidth part based on the frequency-hopping pattern; and means forcommunicating, with the second wireless communication device, a secondcommunication signal in the frequency-hopped first bandwidth part. Insome embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for determininga reference starting subcarrier in the frequency band for a plurality ofresource blocks, each including a plurality of subcarriers in thefrequency band, wherein each channel of the plurality of channelsincludes one or more resource blocks of the plurality of resourceblocks. In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means fordetermining a plurality of guard bands for the plurality of bandwidthparts, wherein the means for determining the reference startingsubcarrier is further configured to determine reference startingsubcarrier based on a metric associated with a number of resource blocksin each bandwidth part that are non-overlapping with a resource blockincluding a portion of the plurality of guard bands. In someembodiments, wherein the means for determining the plurality of guardbands is further configured to determine the plurality of guard bandssuch that center frequencies of the plurality of channels are spacedapart from each other in the frequency band by an integer multiple of asubcarrier spacing of the plurality of subcarriers. In some embodiments,wherein the means for determining the reference starting subcarrier isfurther configured to determine the reference starting subcarrier basedon a guard band of a bandwidth part including a largest bandwidth amongthe plurality of bandwidth parts. In some embodiments, wherein the meansfor determining the reference starting subcarrier is further configuredto determine the reference starting subcarrier based on a guard band ofa bandwidth part including a smallest bandwidth among the plurality ofbandwidth parts. In some embodiments, wherein the frequency bandincludes at least a first set of resource blocks interlaced with asecond set of resource blocks, and wherein the means for communicatingthe first communication signal is further configured to communicate,with the second wireless communication device, the first communicationsignal in at least a portion of the first set of resource blocks withinthe first bandwidth part. In some embodiments, the apparatus furthercomprises means for determining the first set of resource blocks and thesecond set of resource blocks based on a reference starting subcarrierin the frequency band.

As those of some skill in this art will by now appreciate and dependingon the particular application at hand, many modifications, substitutionsand variations can be made in and to the materials, apparatus,configurations and methods of use of the devices of the presentdisclosure without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. In lightof this, the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited tothat of the particular embodiments illustrated and described herein, asthey are merely by way of some examples thereof, but rather, should befully commensurate with that of the claims appended hereafter and theirfunctional equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of wireless communication, comprising:communicating, by a first wireless communication device with a secondwireless communication device, an indication of a reference startingsubcarrier in a frequency band for a plurality of resource blocks, eachof the plurality of resource blocks including a plurality of subcarriersin the frequency band, wherein: the reference starting subcarrier is alowest-frequency subcarrier of a lowest indexed resource block of theplurality of resource blocks; and the indication indicates thelowest-frequency subcarrier of the lowest indexed resource block of theplurality of resource blocks with respect to a reference frequencylocation; communicating, by the first wireless communication device withthe second wireless communication device, a first configurationindicating a plurality of bandwidth parts in the frequency band, theplurality of bandwidth parts based on an expected channel access patternassociated with a listen-before-talk (LBT) in the frequency band,wherein each bandwidth part of the plurality of bandwidth parts includesone or more resource blocks of the plurality of resource blocks; andcommunicating, by the first wireless communication device with thesecond wireless communication device, a first communication signal in afirst bandwidth part of the plurality of bandwidth parts based on an LBTresult.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the frequency band includes aplurality of channels, and wherein each bandwidth part of the pluralityof bandwidth parts includes one or more channels of the plurality ofchannels.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: performing, bythe first wireless communication device, a first LBT in a first channelof the plurality of channels within the first bandwidth part; andperforming, by the first wireless communication device, a second LBT ina second channel of the plurality of channels within the first bandwidthpart, wherein the communicating the first communication signal includes:communicating, by the first wireless communication device with thesecond wireless communication device, the first communication signal inthe first channel based on the LBT result associated with the first LBTand the second LBT.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the firstbandwidth part includes at least two non-contiguous channels of theplurality of channels.
 5. The method of claim 2, wherein: the pluralityof channels includes a common primary channel; and each bandwidth partof the plurality of bandwidth parts includes the common primary channel.6. The method of claim 5, wherein each bandwidth part includes one ormore contiguous channels of the plurality of channels.
 7. The method ofclaim 5, further comprising: communicating, by the first wirelesscommunication device with the second wireless communication device, asecond configuration indicating a frequency-hopping pattern for thecommon primary channel; frequency-hopping, by the first wirelesscommunication device, the first bandwidth part based on thefrequency-hopping pattern; and communicating, by the first wirelesscommunication device with the second wireless communication device, asecond communication signal in the frequency-hopped first bandwidthpart.
 8. The method of claim 2, further comprising: determining, by thefirst wireless communication device, the reference starting subcarrierin the frequency band for the plurality of resource blocks, wherein eachchannel of the plurality of channels includes one or more resourceblocks of the plurality of resource blocks.
 9. The method of claim 8,wherein the determining is based on a guard band of a bandwidth partincluding a largest bandwidth among the plurality of bandwidth parts.10. The method of claim 8, wherein the determining is based on a guardband of a bandwidth part including a smallest bandwidth among theplurality of bandwidth parts.
 11. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising: determining, by the first wireless communication device, aplurality of guard bands for the plurality of bandwidth parts, whereinthe determining the reference starting subcarrier is based on a metricassociated with a number of resource blocks in each bandwidth part thatare non-overlapping with a resource block including a portion of theplurality of guard bands.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein thedetermining the plurality of guard bands further includes: determiningthe plurality of guard bands such that center frequencies of theplurality of channels are spaced apart from each other in the frequencyband by an integer multiple of a subcarrier spacing of the plurality ofsubcarriers.
 13. An apparatus comprising: a memory; a transceiver; andat least one processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver,wherein the apparatus is configured to: communicate, with a wirelesscommunication device, an indication of a reference starting subcarrierin a frequency band for a plurality of resource blocks, each of theplurality of resource blocks including a plurality of subcarriers in thefrequency band, wherein: the reference starting subcarrier is alowest-frequency subcarrier of a lowest indexed resource block of theplurality of resource blocks; and the indication indicates thelowest-frequency subcarrier of the lowest indexed resource block of theplurality of resource blocks with respect to a reference frequencylocation; communicate, with the wireless communication device, a firstconfiguration indicating a plurality of bandwidth parts in the frequencyband, the plurality of bandwidth parts based on an expected channelaccess pattern associated with a listen-before-talk (LBT) in thefrequency band, wherein each bandwidth part of the plurality ofbandwidth parts includes one or more resource blocks of the plurality ofresource blocks; and communicate, with the wireless communicationdevice, a first communication signal in a first bandwidth part of theplurality of bandwidth parts based on an LBT result.
 14. The apparatusof claim 13, wherein the frequency band includes a plurality ofchannels, and wherein each bandwidth part of the plurality of bandwidthparts includes one or more channels of the plurality of channels. 15.The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the apparatus is further configuredto: perform a first LBT in a first channel of the plurality of channelswithin the first bandwidth part; perform a second LBT in a secondchannel of the plurality of channels within the first bandwidth part;and communicate the first communication signal by communicating thefirst communication signal with the wireless communication device in thefirst channel based on the LBT result associated with the first LBT andthe second LBT.
 16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the firstbandwidth part includes at least two non-contiguous channels of theplurality of channels.
 17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein: theplurality of channels includes a common primary channel; and eachbandwidth part of the plurality of bandwidth parts includes the commonprimary channel.
 18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein each bandwidthpart includes one or more contiguous channels of the plurality ofchannels.
 19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the apparatus isfurther configured to: communicate, with the wireless communicationdevice, a second configuration indicating a frequency-hopping patternfor the common primary channel; apply frequency-hopping to the firstbandwidth part based on a frequency-hopping pattern; and communicate,with the wireless communication device, a second communication signal inthe frequency-hopped first bandwidth part.
 20. The apparatus of claim14, wherein the apparatus is further configured to: determine thereference starting subcarrier in the frequency band for the plurality ofresource blocks, wherein each channel of the plurality of channelsincludes one or more resource blocks of the plurality of resourceblocks.
 21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the apparatus is furtherconfigured to: determine a plurality of guard bands for the plurality ofbandwidth parts; and determine the reference starting subcarrier furtherbased on a metric associated with a number of resource blocks in eachbandwidth part that are non-overlapping with a resource block includinga portion of the plurality of guard bands.
 22. The apparatus of claim21, wherein the plurality of guard bands is determined such that centerfrequencies of the plurality of channels are spaced apart from eachother in the frequency band by an integer multiple of a subcarrierspacing of the plurality of subcarriers.
 23. The apparatus of claim 20,wherein the apparatus is further configured to: determine the referencestarting subcarrier further based on a guard band of a bandwidth partincluding a largest bandwidth among the plurality of bandwidth parts.24. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the apparatus is furtherconfigured to: determine the reference starting subcarrier further basedon a guard band of a bandwidth part including a smallest bandwidth amongthe plurality of bandwidth parts.
 25. An apparatus comprising: means forcommunicating, with a wireless communication device, an indication of areference starting subcarrier in a frequency band for a plurality ofresource blocks, each of the plurality of resource blocks including aplurality of subcarriers in the frequency band, wherein: the referencestarting subcarrier is a lowest-frequency subcarrier of a lowest indexedresource block of the plurality of resource blocks; and the indicationindicates the lowest-frequency subcarrier of the lowest indexed resourceblock of the plurality of resource blocks with respect to a referencefrequency location; means for communicating, with the wirelesscommunication device, a first configuration indicating a plurality ofbandwidth parts in the frequency band, the plurality of bandwidth partsbased on an expected channel access pattern associated with alisten-before-talk (LBT) in the frequency band, wherein each bandwidthpart of the plurality of bandwidth parts includes one or more resourceblocks of the plurality of resource blocks; and means for communicating,with the wireless communication device, a first communication signal ina first bandwidth part of the plurality of bandwidth parts based on anLBT result.
 26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the frequency bandincludes a plurality of channels, and wherein each bandwidth part of theplurality of bandwidth parts includes one or more channels of theplurality of channels.
 27. The apparatus of claim 26, furthercomprising: means for performing a first LBT in a first channel of theplurality of channels within the first bandwidth part; perform a secondLBT in a second channel of the plurality of channels within the firstbandwidth part; and means for communicating the first communicationsignal by communicating the first communication signal with the wirelesscommunication device in the first channel based on the LBT resultassociated with the first LBT and the second LBT.
 28. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon, theprogram code comprising: code for causing a first wireless communicationdevice to communicate with a second wireless communication device, anindication of a reference starting subcarrier in a frequency band for aplurality of resource blocks, each of the plurality of resource blocksincluding a plurality of subcarriers in the frequency band, wherein: thereference starting subcarrier is a lowest-frequency subcarrier of alowest indexed resource block of the plurality of resource blocks; andthe indication indicates the lowest-frequency subcarrier of the lowestindexed resource block of the plurality of resource blocks with respectto a reference frequency location; code for causing the first wirelesscommunication device to communicate with the second wirelesscommunication device, a first configuration indicating a plurality ofbandwidth parts in the frequency band, the plurality of bandwidth partsbased on an expected channel access pattern associated with alisten-before-talk (LBT) in the frequency band, wherein each bandwidthpart of the plurality of bandwidth parts includes one or more resourceblocks of the plurality of resource blocks; and code for causing thefirst wireless communication device to communicate with the secondwireless communication device, a first communication signal in a firstbandwidth part of the plurality of bandwidth parts based on an LBTresult.
 29. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 28,wherein the frequency band includes a plurality of channels, and whereineach bandwidth part of the plurality of bandwidth parts includes one ormore channels of the plurality of channels.
 30. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 29, further comprising: code forcausing the first wireless communication device to perform a first LBTin a first channel of the plurality of channels within the firstbandwidth part; and code for causing the first wireless communicationdevice to perform a second LBT in a second channel of the plurality ofchannels within the first bandwidth part, wherein the code for causingthe first wireless communication device to communicate with the secondwireless communication device includes: code for causing the firstwireless communication device to communicate with the second wirelesscommunication device, the first communication signal in the firstchannel based on the LBT result associated with the first LBT and thesecond LBT.